Pottery West is the ceramics studio of husband and wife makers Catherine and Matt West. We specialise in the design and production of wheel-thrown tableware.

In 2013 we’d just moved back to Sheffield from London (via a brief stint in Berlin - where Matt was learning about slow fermentation and all things baking). Matt was working as a baker, Catherine in various marketing and writing roles - we took a pottery evening class and we were hooked. Although we had both studied creative degrees - Matt in Design and Catherine Fine Art (both at Goldsmiths), it was the first time for both of us working with clay.

Months later, completely addicted to clay, we found ourselves driving to Pembrokeshire to pick up a wheel from a potter who was retiring; we found a kiln; equipment and tools seemed to come our way.

We worked really hard in those first few years - we had very few commitments and spent much energy and time learning how to make pots. At first we didn’t fire anything - Matt threw pots and recycled all the clay. He got up for his baking job at 4am, finished by noon and headed to the studio to practice throwing.

Our business grew very organically and we found ourselves taking on some exciting commissions. In 2016, our first son, Arthur, was born and it became clear that we couldn’t work in our jobs, be parents and be potters all at once - something had to give - so Matt became our first full time employee, followed by Catherine in 2018.

We’re now a team of three (Catherine, Matt and Luna), and we specialise in making hand-thrown tableware in our Sheffield studio, sending pots all over the world.

We strive to experiment, challenge ourselves and continue to learn our craft - BATCH is our vehicle for this - but our interest in food, craft and studio pottery runs deep and we are committed to making functional ware, using traditional methods.

Although we are largely self-taught, clay does run in the family. Matt’s father was a sculptor, often using clay to model with, and on his maternal side, we’ve recently discovered a few generations of potters and ‘clay workers’, who moved from France to London to Staffordshire, working for Royal Doulton. So it is in the genes - we wonder if our own children will develop a love for clay too.

We’re so proud of our beautiful city centre studio. It’s not generally open to the public except for by appointment or the annual Open Studios event. Our work is available online and also via our stockists.